Sam Simon's WRIT 340 Blog

This past Thursday, Snapchat, Inc. (SNAP) closed down 6%. This resulted in a decrease in market cap of about $1.3 billion. Rumors have been swirling that this may have been a result of Kylie Jenner's tweet asking "...Does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?" Jenner tweeted this because she, like many other users, was extremely disappointed in the app's new interface update. Whether or not the 6% was attributed to Jenner's tweet, it is still apparent that she had some impact on the poor day for the company. This whole situation is an example of what is wrong with Snapchat and other technology startups, which may have gained a large user base, but do not have a profitable or sustainable revenue model. For the most part, I consider myself anti-social media. Constantly, I try to convince myself to delete all of my accounts and leave the social media world. However, I still have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat like a majority of people my age. Despite r...

Superteams in the NBA How all the power is shifting to star players By Sam Simon The History of Superteams The origination of the “superteam” in the NBA can easily be argued. While many look at the superteam as a new development, there have been a plethora of teams with multiple All-Stars over the history of the NBA. In the 1950s and early 60s, Bill Russell and the Celtics won 11 titles, a completely unmatched number. In the 1970s, the “bad boy” Pistons dominated with a team consisting of five Hall of Famers (Holmes). In the early 80s, the Lakers, with Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Magic Johnson, and James Worthy, battled the Celtics who had Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. In the late 80s and early 90s it was Michael Jordan, along with Hall of Famers Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr, who led the Bulls to six championships. This trend continues as each decade of NBA history has dominant teams. However, now, the perception of these superteams has changed – a...